David And Linda Knopf 's Triumphs - 1973 GT6 and 1980 TR8

Whenever David and I travel, we seem to gravitate to car lots where the ghosts of former sports cars linger.  My family is from the Gainesville area and David has certain routes around town that he prefers.  Specifically, they include obscure garages with permanent parking lots.  In one such lot, behind a garage on the truck bypass, David spied a 1973 GT6.  He has antennae for this type of thing.  The car/truck automatically slows while ol’ Dave cranes his neck to inventory the site.  If a Triumph is located, our vehicle immediately brakes – on its own accord, of course – and we pause until an assessment is made to go or stay.  This is not a consultation between the two of us, but more spontaneous and testosterone driven.  Anyway, the GT6 was identified as a gem in the rough and David made plans to purchase it and tow it home.  (How else?)  It had been given from father to son and may have sat in one spot a decade or more.  The engine was long gone with no freely moving parts, but the body was pretty good.  It still looked like a Triumph.

 Ten years ago, in September 1998, the GT6 was ours.  Since then, everything in the engine has been replaced, rebuilt, or redesigned.  It has been painted, upholstered, and polished.  All rubber gaskets were replaced, including around the windshield.  David’s blue bombshell has a customized air conditioning system and a fabulous sound system that just need final installation.  Otherwise, it is on the road in shake-down status.  (I have learned that “shake-down” is a term of art referring to Triumphs that have returned to the road, but need a little tweaking. 

Will someone please tell me what the next phase is  called, if there is one?)

Ten years of effort is hard to assess.  Like all Triumphs, this car is the product of consistent attention and a lot of car parts.  David has a friend, Mike Dalton, who has spent many Sundays bent double under the bonnet or on his back on a mechanic’s dolly.  As soon as the hard work was finished, David bought a lift.  Mike says, “Thanks.” 

 Painting the car was probably the single most important decision made.  Not the painting part, Luke did that.  Choosing the color to paint the car was the single most important decision.  David agonized over the hue of blue.  He even asked my opinion – which I think is a substitute for talking out loud to himself.  It’s not French blue anymore, but a close blue-grey.  Beautiful, too.  David gets all the credit for renovating this car.  All I did was yell at him to quit and come in for dinner. 

TR8- 1980

The TR8 is a 1980 model that came out the year Jenny was born.  You can still catch the old ad on TVLand that has the wedge-car pulling into a wedge-garage.  Very cool.  I think it still looks modern.  By happenstance, I’m sure, David spotted this car in an E-bay listing.  He bid.  He won.  Then he wondered how in heck he was going to get this baby back home from Kansas City, MO.  Lessons learned: there are no bathrooms on the highway in south Kentucky, there is little cell phone service between here and there, and the cost of shipping a car is less than renting a trailer and paying for gas and hotel rooms.  Of course, David went by himself which was the major disadvantage to his trip.  He made a commitment to arrive by a certain date that conflicted with my schedule, his brother’s schedule, and his cousin’s schedule.  On the next trip of this sort, he asked Obin.  Obin has never let him down.

The car arrived and we talked about having it painted.  (Please note my previous comments on this topic.)  Gold was one color on the table before we looked at the registration and saw that the original color was Persian Aqua.  How could anyone not paint their “8” Persian Aqua?  So, aqua it is. 

Our original intention was to keep this car as close to concours as possible.  That should be simple, right?  No modifications had been made, the upholstery was original, and the engine ran.  As the animated skunk was heard to say, “Au contraire, mon cher.”  The transmission, rear end, radiator, condenser, interior carpet and upholstery, convertible top, wheels, and water pump have been replaced.  David has put five (5!) different radios in it.  He has also replaced the air box, reworked the fans and the air conditioning.  (The latter is one of the reasons this is my car.)  There seem to be few things remaining that you could genuinely call original, but it is more concours than it used to be.  I guess it’s all in the definition.

I love driving this car, although few members of the club have seen me behind the wheel.  It has power steering and power brakes.  I already mentioned the air conditioning.  And it has an adjustable driver’s seat that comes way up close to the steering wheel so my short legs reach the pedals.  A CD changer operates through the radio and it runs at 80 without breathing hard.  The boot is also roomy enough for a large picnic hamper.  A nice buy for an E-bay bid.  Way to go, Dave!        

Linda Knopf